1. Statement of the Technical Field
The invention concerns multi-pin electrical connectors.
2. Background
There are many multi-pin connectors known in the art for joining electrical circuits together. The multi-pin connectors are typically cable mount connectors or board level connectors. Such multi-pin connectors include, but are not limited to, a multi-pin circular connector having a high pin count and a small size. The multi-pin circular connector includes a male connector (or plug) and a female connector (or jack). The male connector is comprised of an electrical pin field encompassed by a housing formed of a wrought material. The term “wrought” as used herein means that a material is forged into a desired form via a hammering process, a twisting process, a bending process, a pressing process and/or other such processes. The electrical pin field is formed of a rear (or bottom) dielectric having electrically conductive pins coupled thereto and a front (or top) dielectric having the electrically conductive pins inserted therethrough. The female connector is comprised of electrically conductive fixed contact field sized and shaped for receiving the electrically conductive pins of the male connector. When the electrically conductive pins are received by the fixed contact field, electrical interconnections are made between two or more electrical circuits.
A perspective view of a conventional electrical pin field 100 is provided in FIG. 1. It should be noted that the electrical pin field 100 has the front (or top) dielectric removed therefrom for clarity. As shown in FIG. 1, the electrical pin field 100 is comprised of a rear (or bottom) dielectric having electrically conductive contacts (not shown). The electrical pin field 100 is also comprised of contact springs and a circular flat gasket with apertures sized and shaped for receiving the contact springs. The contact springs are generally soldered to the electrically conductive contacts (not shown). The circular flat gasket is disposed on the rear (or bottom) dielectric. The electrical pin field is further comprised of electrically conductive pins and pin o-rings. The electrically conductive pins are generally soldered to the contact springs. The pin O-rings are disposed on the electrically conductive pins. The front (or top) dielectric (not shown) has apertures sized and shaped for receiving the electrically conductive pins. The front (or top) dielectric (not shown) is disposed on the circular flat gasket with apertures sized and shaped for receiving the contact springs.
As should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art, in a typical application, the assembled electrical pin field 100 is coined into a multi-pin connector housing (not shown). Multi-pin connector housings are well known to those skilled in the art, and therefore will not be described in herein. The term “coined” as used herein refers to a process of deflecting (or displacing) a material via a mechanical force to captive and/or retain the electrical pin field therein. It should be noted that the housing material is coined (or displaced) approximately ninety degrees (90°). During this coining process, the circular flat gasket expands radially so as to form a seal between the electrical pin field 100 and the multi-pin connector housing (not shown). This seal is an environmental seal configured to prevent moisture from seeping into the electrical pin field 100.
The electrical pin field 100 is known to suffer from certain drawbacks. For example, the electrical pin field 100 is comprised of numerous hand-assembled components. Such hand-assembled components include, but are not limited to, the contact springs, the electrically conductive pins, the flat gasket, the pin O-rings and the top insulator. Consequently, the assembly of the electrical pin field 100 is labor intensive, skill intensive, and costly. Also, the multi-pin connector housing (not shown) is coined (or displaced) approximately ninety degrees (90°), which is a relatively large amount of displacement. Such a ninety degree (90°) displacement can generally only be accomplished using a housing comprising a malleable wrought material. Wrought materials are more expensive as compared to other types of housing material, such as essentially unmalleable materials (e.g., cast materials). Furthermore, the seal formed by the radially expanded flat gasket tends to fail over time, and therefore provides an unreliable seal. This failure is due to the gasket stress relieving of the apertures formed in the flat gasket.
In view of the forgoing, there remains a need for an electrical pin field having a design that reduces labor and skill intensity, as well as costs associated with the assembly of the electrical pin field. There also remains a need for an electrical pin field that enables an improved coining process. There is further a need for an electrical pin field that provides an improved seal between the electrical pin field and a multi-pin connector housing.